Strong, healthy vibrato is almost always present in her supported range

Points for Improvement

Notes above Eb5 in her mixed voice are usually shrill with a high larynx

Vibrato on notes above Eb5/E5 is often laggy and uneven

Notes below G#3 are usually unsupported and accompanied with a low larynx

Notes at the top and bottom of her supported range can have stability issues

Head Voice becomes tense and tight above A5

Compared to the rest of her voice, her lower register is considerably less developed

Registers

Lower register: Her weakest register by far. Supports well down to G#3, below this she stops supporting and loses proper larynx position. Tone either becomes airy or forced.

Mixed register: Well balanced with bright, even resonance up to Eb5 and occasional good placement on E5. Well developed and even outside her supported range good placement is kept even if the support is lost.

Upper register: A very developed head voice with good control up to F#5, and resonance up to A5.

Agility

Despite being a lyric, Yeonji does not have a very agile voice. Often times, Yeonji will attempt runs that often come out without pitch accuracy and an unclear melodic idea, as in “If I Ain’t Got You” and/or lose power and projection even in her supported range, such as in “The Last“. Stylistically speaking however, Yeonji is more of a ballad singer and does not generally attempt complicated vocal embellishments nor the addition of vocal runs and instead opts for a more dynamic approach and her highly acclaimed high notes.

Overall analysis

Former main vocalist of Seeya, and the newest rookie of Immortal Song 2, Yeonji is known for being a very good and well respected vocalist. Yeonji has always stood out as the one member in Seeya with the biggest sound, something that comes from her naturally larger sound input in her instrument and a more womanly tone, indicators of her fach as a Full Lyric Soprano.

Being a soprano, Yeonji overlooked developing her lower register and as such it is her weakest register becoming unsupported with a lowered larynx below G#3 and at times losing stability below Bb3/B3. Oftentimes her voice becomes unclear and muffled below G#3, such as the E3’s in “정“, or just forced out with a low larynx, such as the E3’s and D3’s in “If I Ain’t Got You“. Around and above G#3, her tone is a lot more present and generally she is able to project with a much more stable and well placed sound, such as the G#3’s in”이젠 그랬으면 좋겠네” and A3’s in “가슴 아파도“.

Her mix voice, however, is developed very well being balanced all the way up even outside of her supported range. Being a very trained register, she is capable of producing a large, even resonance as shown by the B4s in “나 가거든” , the C5s in The Last, the C#5s in “넌 또 다른 나” and the Eb5s in “꿈에“. Unfortunately, Yeonji loses proper technique above Eb5, pushing her larynx up causing a very notable lose of projection and resonance as well as an uneven vibrato resulting in strained E5s such as in “”이젠 그랬으면 좋겠네“” and F5s in “남남북녀“. This isn’t to say that she loses support around E5, on the contrary, she remains quite well supported even up until then. However due to her bad habits and unnatural vibrato, she tightens up her throat and closes the sound with a high larynx due to her vibrato when singing above Eb5. Despite this, she is able to vocalize in that range without much fatigue even belting up to G5, demonstrated in “Tears“, though this has a much more strained, pushed sound compared to when she vocalizes in her supported range, such as in “나 가거든“.

To compliment her well developed mix, Yeonji has also trained her head voice rather well. Yeonji shows great support and control being able to transition from a belted B4 into a crescendo E5 in “나 가거든“, to effortlessly floating up to F5 and F#5 in “잃어버린 우산” and producing a large, resonant A5 such as in “Musical“. Once she goes above this, there is tension causing the notes to become shrill and thin as heard in her C6, such as in “그래도 좋아“.

Musically, Yeonji is not much of a show off vocalist and doesn’t try to sing all over her range. Instead she is a very sensitive vocalist who conveys her emotions well through the user of proper dynamic approaches, accompanied by an amazing control of her breath support, allowing for very smooth crescendos and diminuendos, alongside a very healthy vibrato. Her setback in this case is the lack of support she has in her upper mixed notes that she relies on a lot, which could damage her if done too often.

Yeonji’s ability as a vocalist has gained her the respect of many, opening up a school for singing that taught hundreds of students who flocked there because of her name alone. Yeonji has made a name for herself by singing well along the likes of Davichi, T-Ara, and even Brown Eyed Girl’s JeA and shows a goal to continue her life in the world of music. Even after her departure from Seeya, Yeonji has proven that she’s nowhere near the end of her music career nor vocal career.

Musicianship

Yeonji has a good ear, knowing how to properly convey feeling in her vocal performances. Despite this, she does take a lot of risks when singing such as vocalizing out of her supported range and attempting runs that she is unable to handle, exposing her weaknesses as a vocalist and leaving out her ability to fully control the more musical and experimental part of her sound as a musician/vocalist.

Wow, I didn’t know and never heard her before. I do now. Instant fan, here.
Plus she’s a full lyric, a rare breed in Kpop, omg. Anyway, I don’t know if you guys have been asked this before, but is there any particular reason that full lyric vocalist hasn’t really stood out in Kpop over the years?

Actually, quite a few full lyrics are popular or very respected in Korea(Yeonji, Lee Young Hyun, Sohyang, Eunji, JeA, Solji, etc). I think Full Lyrics are more rare to see in girl groups than as ballad or solo artists because most girl groups go for cute approaches whereas most Full Lyrics in Girl Groups have more mature, womanly voices that are used for sexy concepts.

You mean this video right? Yes she has high notes in this video. Next time, make sure to add a time stamp when you ask a question like this just to make sure. ^ ^ 3:20 F5 high larynx, 3:30 F#5 high larynx 3:51 and 3:55 F5’s with a high larynx. Those high notes were outside of her supported range, everything else was around Eb5/D5 and below, so she did well except for those specific notes.

So Chanwhee? The original singer of the song? She doesn’t really produce resonance in her mix, at least not here. She’s a rock singer and she sacrifices a lot of technique for that gritty and screechy quality in her mix. It’s hard for me to say Yeonji isn’t better because Yeonji has a much healthier approach to the song, she would drown her out not only for being a Full Lyric but also for having a much better approach that allows bigger resonance and healthy support. So Chanwhee doesn’t support Eb5 or anything above, so Yeonji seems better to me so far.

3:57 tense Eb5, too much throat. 4:01 Eb5 and F5, also too much throat, high larynx. 4:12 high larynx, really throaty E5. She sounds tired on those upper notes, usually she can strain them with less tension. 4:28 another strained E5. Nothing new here.

0:20 resonant C5, 3:05 and 3:18 until that vibrato kicked in, I would’ve called Yeonji’s E5’s supported but then the vibrato closes her throat a lot.
3:28 high larynx F#5 3:39 tight, vibrato is tightening the throat for the E5.

It’s a Bb5 and it seems quite pushed with good connection and placement, but too much air pressure, not enough proper stretch and support. 3:45 The Eb5’s are well placed but the vowel causes tension so there’s less freedom. And the F#5’s and G5’s are as usually, very well placed.

“A very developed head voice with good control up to F#5, and resonance up to A5.” So she has less control above F#5, but still able to produce resonant till A5? Don’t you need a good control to produce resonance? Wait, isn’t A5 higher? I’m sorry if I sounded dumb, i’m uneducated lol.

I wasn’t the sole author of this analysis but I agree with you and will check with the author to understand what they meant. Edit: I checked with the author, they meant the control of her dynamics, she is less controlled but still able to keep resonance up to A5.

I did not write this analysis but what I believe the author is trying to say is that up to F#5 she is very consistent with her resonance and control, but above that there can be resonance however inconsistency with like support, placement, “Control” etc. You don’t sound dumb it;s fine.

Hallo Ahmin! I have been reading your blog for many years but it’s the first time I have the courage to write a comment. First of all I would like to thank you and pandayeu for your all the analysis. They are very informative, accurate and truly a pleasure to read. I can’t express how deep is my appreciation for all your hard word.
Through my mum I always have a love for music and singing. But in my town all the music departments are specialize in classical music, so my training is classical. You have helped to understand much better how the contemporary singing works and appreciate more my favourite kpop idols.
I understand completely that you have your own life and so you may not see my comment but in case you see it, I want you to known that some of us appreciate for work and we are very thankful. I hope you are doing well and be happy!
Lastly I would like to ask a question if you have time about Yeonji. In the analysis is written that her vibrato is becoming laggy above Eb5. But many times the sound of her vibrato even inside her supported range seems to me slightly fast and tense in the glottal area,like it is laryngeal. What are your thoughts about that? Also i want to ask if you have the time or motivation to bless us with other analysis?
Well sorry for how big my comment is, I can’t express my myself laconic. And sorry if there are many mistakes in grammar or syntax, English is my first language

Hi baby! I am busy but I read most of the comments even if I may not respond as often as I used to anymore. I have made a promise to myself to stop answering video questions cause they really took over my life at one point and I was constantly on my phone, answering questions and barely ever present in the moment that I needed to be. This is a big reason why I stopped. So I am truly thankful for your comment and appreciate your background in classical music. There’s so much about classical music I don’t truly understand and would love to know more about.

As for your question, I think that anybody who came from the school of technique from the 90’s to the early 00’s in K-pop tends to sort of darken their voice a little bit more than necessary, be a little more in the throat, have a laggier vibrato with the help of the larynx and sing with questionable support. Now in the case of Yeonji and Park Hyoshin, for example, who debuted in the early to the mid 2000’s and are still quite active in the music industry, they retained some of those old singing qualities while learning to adapt to the way singing has changed, in popular music. I’d say for her, many times she has the laryngeal vibrato on but she can sing with a natural vibrato as well. It’s perhaps a stylistic choice or perhaps a bad habit she isn’t completely aware of. I can’t say for sure since it’s been a while since I’d listened to her well and I don’t know her personally.

Your English is just great, don’t worry! As for new analyses, I think I want to write more perhaps in the future again but not for now. I can’t say what’s going to happen in my future, but things have changed a lot and will change a lot more for the near the future as well. I don’t know what’s in store yet so I think I need to keep learning more to come back to this website again.

I can’t believe you answer, that makes me so happy! I am a very big fan of you, so i am fanboying now on my own. I am only 17 so I am still learning about singing and I make a lot mistakes, especially when I am hearing others and try to explain from where the tension comes each time. I am pretty sure your hearing is 100% more credible than mine and also your knowledge in singing much more in depth. Even though I love classical singing and I believe that is kind limiting to the voice. I find that contemporary music gives to singers much opportunities to explore the potential of their voices. Also thank you for answering about Yeonji, now I understand why sometimes her vibrato is sound healthy and even and othetimes more forced inside her supported range. Whenever you feel ready to write an analysis I am pretty sure I will be here to read it! And since you don’t answer questions about videos I guess I can’t ask something about Younha that is worrying me. Anyway thank you again and I hope you have a nice day!!